Actions Speak Louder
by Cookie-chi
Summary: A weapon’s specialist she may have been, but soon Tenten had opted for throwing one of her stilettos at Neji's head in blind, irritated rage. NejiTen


**Disclaimer:** If I owned Naruto…Neji would be a pimp…

**Actions Speak Louder** _(NejiTen)_

****

A kunochi sat alone of the peak of a hill situated on the outskirts of Konoha, the brunette hugged her legs close to her chest, inhaling deeply through her nose before exhaling though sobs as the cold midnight winds rushed by. Tenten never usually cried, and _never_ would she cry in public; in front of those white eyes she loved, in front of those white eyes she hated. The young woman clenched her eyes tightly as more tears proceeded to fall and stain her once unblemished rose cheeks, why did it always come down to him? Yes, it was true that Tenten rarely cried, but when she did, it would always be about him.

This time however, it was _because_ of him.

Neji was a man of not-so-many words, most of them were 'Hn's and 'Hmph's, for a genius his range of vocabulary was somewhat of a let down. But Tenten had always liked that, because it meant rather then speaking with words, he spoke with actions. He hadn't declared his love for the kunoichi on her 21st birthday through words, instead he had taken her in his arms and drawn her into a sensual kiss, chaste at first, but deepened when Tenten had locked her arms around his neck and returned that affection the Hyuuga craved. From then on Tenten thought it was going to be perfect…

Tenten was wrong.

The two ninja's had a rocky relationship to say the least. It was a string of arguments, most were petty, though some grew rather heated, everyone had commented on how their hot-headed personalities clashed too much for a stable relationship, but they grew though it, got stronger together, and always made up. They made up through actions rather than words, it was something Tenten had always loved about Neji…but now…now she wasn't so sure…

Sometimes a girl needed to be told she was loved, but not once in their relationship had Neji actually said it, he implied it, hinted at it, emphasized it, but never actually _said_ those words. Words Tenten desperately wanted to hear, she had never had a family to tell her that, and not even her friends could give her that warm feeling inside that Neji had the power to, but didn't do, but goddamn it was his responsibility to do! Neji was her partner, her lover, her best friend, he was supposed to give her all those things she wanted!

Sighing in defeat Tenten ceased clasping her legs and looked up to the night's sky, her eyes now felt too weary from crying and it was begging to give her a headache. Her eyes were red and puffy and her high-pinned buns were somewhat out of place with loose strands darted here and there, obscuring her vision from time to time as she huffed them away. The cold winds sent a shiver down her back; Tenten had truly picked the worst night to sit on top of a hill without a jumper.

Suddenly feeling the comfort of warm cloth draped over her shoulders the kunoichi gasped, she couldn't help feeling surprised that she hadn't felt the presence creep up on her beforehand, considering what a colossal amount of chakra the body contained. She knew all too well who it was, those callous hands, that curtain of long chocolate-brown hair she caught sight of from the corners of her eyes. Instantly Tenten was up from her seat on the ground and flinched her shoulders away from Neji's touch, unfortunately she had been wearing high stilettos that evening, causing the kunoichi to trip on the grassy terrain and subsequently fall into the Hyuuga's arms. So much for trying to push him away, every time she tried that, it seemed Neji would somehow reel her in closer…

"Tenten." He breathed, but she had no time for it, for it was only when she was upset that he'd use his vocabulary to its extent, and as soon as she forgave him, it would vanish. Tenten wouldn't give in again, not this time.

She picked herself up and turned to where Neji picked up the garment he had tried to wrap around her shoulders, placing her hands on her hips, the 24 year old huffed before looking away from Neji's milky gaze.

"Don't, Neji." She hissed threateningly. The majority were very intimidated by Hyuuga Neji, but not her, she had put up with his antics for too many years to be scared by those eyes.

"You've been crying." He stated, and she merely sighed, for as clever as he was, Neji would always state the obvious.

"Can you blame me? I can't keep my feelings to myself all the time." She managed to say, trying her best to sound strong, but her voice wavered tremendously. She saw Neji's brows furrow in pity, and that was the last thing she wanted from him. So instantly her eyes pierced into his. "Not like you." She finished, leaving Neji with a slightly saddened gaze, but it still looked lifeless to Tenten.

"A shinobi should show their true feelings Tenten, you know that…"

His words were so dull, they lacked any life to them and instantly Tenten had snapped.

"On the Battlefield Neji! The Battlefield!" She exclaimed at the top of her voice, which had now become raspy from crying and screaming too much. Neji didn't seem too phased by her actions; the only thing to show he had taken in her words was the quick succession of his blinking. More tears fell from her eyes and soon Tenten had begun to walk away, she didn't want Neji to see her cry, she didn't want him to have the last word, she didn't want him to win the fight…because he always would.

"Life if one big battlefield."

Her eyes widened at his words, and reluctantly she turned to see Neji clutching her jumper by his side, as though it were the only thing he had left of her, yet his eyes pierced through hers and were enough to send a shiver up the young woman's spine. What did he mean by that? If life were a battlefield, it couldn't be enjoyable…Did Neji hate life? Did Neji hate being with her? Tenten's heart squeezed painfully at the thought. So here she went again…giving in to stupid feelings…Oh how Tenten hated herself sometimes.

"But you need comrades on a battlefield Tenten. You are my comrade."

"Is that it?" She retorted, once again he wasn't surprised, but that was only because they had had so many arguments before, it was becoming quite the norm. But Tenten didn't want it to be. Did he? Neji's face gave away nothing, and sometimes the weapon's mistress wished he would make himself a little easier to read.

"No." He replied solemnly as he took a few steps forward, and she subconsciously took a few steps back.

"Then…" She spoke, her voice wavering like that of a timid child's, she hated it when her voice came out like that, she hated the state she was in…this effect he had over her…she hated it, yet yearned for it all the same. "What am I? To you?"

"The person I can open up to." He replied "When I need to."

Tenten was surprised by his answer to say the least, Neji hardly ever opened up, hell, that was the whole damn problem! What was he on about! So many question's ran through her head, and with every one she asked herself, Neji was slowly gaining up on her, step by step, if she didn't hurry up and kept halting the way she was now, soon she'd have nowhere to run…

"But I don't need to." He spoke, soon a smile graced his lips; it was a rare sight to say the least, one Tenten loved to see, but why show it to her now? To woo her into his trap so he could have that control again? And break her again?

Tenten wasn't having it, her feet shuffled uncomfortably in her heels; it was difficult to stand with high pointed shoes in such marshy terrain, the grass was still damp from where it had been raining the previous night. She stepped out of the shoes, her feet squelched against the mud, but it was surprisingly more comfortable. A weapon's specialist she may have been, but soon Tenten had opted for throwing one of the stilettos at her Neji's head in blind, irritated rage at his words that she had yet to understand. Unfortunately her rage got in the way of her concentration; and for once her aim had been off and Neji managed to dodge without mush hassle. She hissed before taking a few more steps back.

"You see Tenten, I don't need to, because you already know all there is to know about me. You say I never open up to you, but there's nothing left to open up about, because I've already told you through actions, and you've been too blind to see it." He explained in that same monotone he would always address her with, but slowly Tenten was beginning to understand his concept, as crazy as it may have seemed…

"Think about it, how many little things do you know about me?"

Now she had stopped dead in her tracks, and Neji had followed suit. There was still a distance between them, but somehow Neji had made it that little fraction smaller without Tenten even realising. She thought on his question for a moment, unsure of whether she should give him the satisfaction of answering.

"I know the little things you like, and the little things you hate." She said, sounding almost defeated, but at the same time she was sadly smiling to herself. The kunoichi hugged her arms around herself to conceal some body heat the nighttime air had stolen. "I know how you react to problems and how you go about solving them, I know how you think as a tactician, and how you think as an instinctive human being…I know-"

"You know a lot about me. Basically."

He was right. Again. She sighed; defeated, as her hazel eyes met his lavender ones.

"But I also know all the things about you that tick me off, Hyuuga Neji-" She replied, and was that…with a little pout too? Neji's lips arced into an uncharacteristic grin; she was sulking! He couldn't help finding it funny, for Tenten was a woman who thought that she could rise above any man, maybe she could…Just so long as that man wasn't the Hyuuga genius.

Before she knew it, Tenten had drifted off into her own little world of thoughts, well…more like rantings about how Neji annoyed her, she brought up everything she could possibly think of. Like how Neji didn't clean the plug when he had a shower and his hair would get stuck in it, and how he'd never bother making conversation when they met new people and Tenten would have to do it all for them, and how he never once cooked for her, the list went on…

"And then remember the time when you-"

Thump!

Soon a brown-haired kunoichi found herself on the ground, her hair even more messed up than it had been before and her arms were sprawled out by her sides, she could feel the mud soak through her attire as she laid their in silence for a moment or two. But what startled her even more was being able to feel a warm body pressed against hers, her face soon met that off Neji's, his arms had wrapped themselves around her frame and his breath soon warmed her cheeks. Tenten would've sighed in content for the warmth his body gave her, but she was too surprised that he had tackled her to the ground and was staring at her with such intensity. She huffed at his unexplained behaviour before continuing.

"Neji! What on earth are yo-"

"Marry me."

"I mean seriously what o-…." She paused only when his words finally managed to sink in, slowly her eyes found his, and her jaw dropped in disbelief. "Wait…what did you just say?" Tenten had probably been caught up in her rambling, she had probably heard him wrong…yeah, of course she did…Neji would NEVER say that…would he? For some reason…Tenten secretly hoped she _had_ heard him right…

"I said" He started, before lifting his thumb to her cheek and wiping off a splodge of mud.

"Marry me."

So she hadn't heard wrong, her face burned bright red, her cheeks felt so hot that they had probably dried up the tracks of her tears. With wide eyes she looked into the face of Hyuuga Neji, who was now looking a little anxious. Tenten's lips curved into a smile; it was funny when he did show emotions, maybe Tenten was getting good at their mind games; after enough nagging he was finally showing her that emotion she always wanted to see in those plain eyes of his. It wasn't long before she had burst into fits of giggles, and the Hyuuga towering over he was soon giving Tenten a very disapproving glare to match that of Sasuke's.

"What's so funny?" He couldn't help but asked in a cold tone of voice, he soon felt a pair of arms wrap around his torso, and saw Tenten staring up at him with the hugest grin plastered to her face. She may have been underneath him, but it was as if she had all the power in the world over him.

"Why not." She giggled at a dumbfounded Hyuuga.

"Is that a yes?" He enquired further, for Neji liked his answers plain and simple, and Tenten was most certainly toying with him.

Her hands soon crept around his neck, her muddy self clung onto him as she pulled herself up, the time she was taking to answer was beginning to irritate Neji, and the look on his face showed it.

Her eyes met his again, the grin hadn't left her face either as she took one final look at her shoes in the distance. They had been expensive but quite frankly they were too much trouble for a kunoichi's feet, she was better off without them. But was she better off without Neji? It didn't take much time for her to think of the answer as he cradled her in his arms, he may have been like stone a lot of the time…but his arms, they were warm and lulling and made Tenten desperately want a hot bath to rid herself of mud and tears and scrapes from where Neji had pushed her. But more than anything else, she wanted him…

"Take me home. And I'll show you…"

END

A/N: So what did you think? Good? Bad? Rubbish? Shall I continue? Is it better as just a one-shot? Review and tell me! XDDD


End file.
